Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.

If Howard Kaylan had sung only one song, the Turtles’ 1967 #1 smash hit “Happy Together,” his place in rock and roll history would still be secure. But that recording, named in 1999 by BMI as one of the top 50 songs of the 20th century, with over 5 million radio plays, is only the tip of a rather immense iceberg. For five decades, Howard Kaylan has been a key player at the heart of the rock and roll revolution. In addition to his years with the Turtles—whose other best-selling hits include “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “You Baby,” “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “She’s My Girl,” “Elenore” and “You Showed Me”—Kaylan was a core member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and half of the much loved duo Flo & Eddie. Howard’s voice has also appeared on recordings by a vast array of artists including Bruce Springsteen, T. Rex and Alice Cooper.

Kaylan’s years with the Turtles are the stuff of legend: the first rock group to perform at the White House, wild encounters with the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix (on the same night!), countless TV and concert appearances, and a string of hit records that have never lost their popularity. But while most artists would have been happy for the five-year success that the Turtles enjoyed, for Howard Kaylan that run at the top of the charts was only the beginning. His two years with the renowned Zappa were an education and a complete artistic upheaval, marked by highs such as sharing the stage with John Lennon and Yoko Ono and lows like watching the band’s equipment burn to a crisp at the notorious Montreux fire that later became the subject of the Deep Purple classic “Smoke On the Water.” Kaylan appeared on four Mothers of Invention albums and in Zappa’s theatrical feature film 200 Motels.

Following their stint with Zappa, Kaylan and fellow Turtles/Mothers vocalist Mark Volman went off on their own, calling themselves at first The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie, and then just Flo and Eddie, until reclaiming the Turtles name. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Howard Kaylan’s entry into professional music and he’s still out on the road with Mark singing the hits! Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc. (Backbeat Books, April 16, 2013) is Howard Kaylan’s incredible story, a timeless rock and roll tale— intensely colorful, brutally honest, and a whole lot of fun!